Surry Hills is probably the Sydney neighbourhood you'll fall in love with first. It's twenty minutes from the harbour on foot, full of small bars and cafes the locals actually go to, and unlike a lot of Sydney, you can spend a Saturday here without burning a hundred dollars.
Here's how to do Surry Hills cheap and well.
Coffee. Sydney takes its coffee seriously and Surry Hills is the heart of it. Single O on Reservoir Street, Reuben Hills on Albion Street, and Paramount Coffee Project on Commonwealth Street all pull flat whites at the level the city is known for. Around $5 to $6 a cup, which is the going rate.
Bourke Street Bakery. The 633 Bourke Street original has been there since 2004. A pork-and-fennel sausage roll plus a coffee for under $15, eaten on the kerb out front, is a very Surry Hills morning.
Walks. Walk Bourke Street up to Centennial Park if it's sunny. Walk down through to Redfern if you want grit and street art. Both free, both feel very Sydney.
Markets. The Surry Hills Markets run on the first Saturday of every month, 8am to 4pm, at Shannon Reserve on the corner of Crown and Collins. Sixty-plus stalls of vintage clothes, plants, books, ceramics, all priced for actual humans. The food trucks parked along the edges sell better lunches than half the cafes nearby.
A small nightlife note. Surry Hills has bars on every other corner. The small ones tucked off Bourke and Crown Streets are friendlier than anything in the CBD. Drinks aren't cheap (Sydney is Sydney) but covers are usually free.
The reason this guide is short is that Surry Hills only really works if you're nearby. Forty minutes each way by train kills the spontaneity of it. The travellers who get the most out of this neighbourhood walk in for coffee, browse the markets, walk back for a nap, walk back in for dinner.
By the way, our Surry Hills spot is on Flinders Street, right at the edge of the neighbourhood. Bring comfortable shoes either way.